Royal, who has been diving himself for five years said, “Coming up too quick, you face a number of issues.”

Those include what is commonly called “the bends” also known as decompression illness, Royal said. The illness causes nitrogen bubbles to form that can cause a heart attack, “and all kinds of problems in the blood system.”

Royal said Davis’ quick rise to the surface also could have caused lung tissues to burst. Divers are taught to come up slowly while breathing through their apparatus, and to breathe out during an emergency ascent to avoid that problem, the sheriff said.

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Davis was pronounced dead at the scene by the Truckee Fire Department, Royal said, and an autopsy is pending. His wife, Deborah Davis, 46, of Auburn, was at the accident location.